The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank determined to increase global prosperity by advancing collaborative solutions that widen access to capital, create jobs, and improve health. In 2018, they launched the Future Health Leaders Pilot Program to create the right connections between organizations, students, and schools. Students chosen this year from Pitt Public Health are KAITLYN SAAL-RIDPATH (JD/MPH ’20), JESSICA SALERNO (I...

TRIB LIVE – LifeX will tackle some of medicine’s biggest challenges for its initial focus. They announced a $2 million grant from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation to help it get off the ground. “The LifeX team is proud to have the Hillman Foundation's support as we continue this longstanding legacy of facilitating cures to the most devastating and prevalent causes of suffering and death”, says CEO of LifeX and HUGEN’s DIETRICH STEPHAN.

NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT from CNBC - Americans are filling fewer prescriptions for opioids, however, heroin and stronger synthetic opioids like fentanyl have overtaken prescription drugs as the biggest causes of overdose deaths. “One of the main [questions] that people are concerned about is whether there’s been a transition to heroin and other forms of opioids because of the reduction in prescription opioids, says HPM’s WALID GELLAD (16:45-19:30...

BCHS's JESSICA BURKE, HPM's ERIC ROBERTS and DIANA DELUCIA (IDM '19) each present recent work ranging from community research on stigmatization of menstrual practices in Nepal, to the economics and equity of Medicaid reform, to the microbiology of HIV re-infection.

ARIZONA SONORA NEWS - Nationwide studies of sexual assault indicate that racial minorities, transgender people, and people with disabilities are targets of sexual violence at greater rates than the general population. Transgender students were three times as likely to be sexually assaulted than non-transgender men, according to a study conducted by BCHS' ROBERT COULTER and colleagues.

The winners of the 20th Dean's Day Student Research Competition were announced during an Oral Presentations and Awards Ceremony on April 17, 2018. Visit publichealth.pitt.edu/deansday for a list of winners.

SALLY E. WENZEL will take over as chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health starting May 1, 2018. As chair, Wenzel will extend her work on airway disease to build a research program that spans clinical, bench, and environmental exposure science, amplifying the exceptional strengths already present in the department.

“[Jonas Salk] had no idea what was going to come out of this experiment. He was just terrified that it wasn’t going to turn out to work, but it did,” said Peter Salk of his father's early tests of the first polio vaccines. Jonas Salk developed the first successful polio vaccine while working at Pitt. PETER SALK give his personal account of the polio vaccine development and talked about his father's other research and the 21st century work to mov...

Faculty and alumni spoke on a panel to highlight the public health impact on global communities, including immigration crises, planetary health, climate change, and the importance of health systems. KELLY SALDANA (BCHS ’01) talked about creating resiliency and figuring out what that means both at the individual level and the systems level to help lessen negative effects of climate change.

Experts from across public health disciplines discuss opioid epidemic research, intervention strategies, challenges, and steps for the future. “What we have to start to ask is what is it as a culture that we think is the most important part of what drives us, and that shouldn’t be bottom line, it should be quality of life, ” says JAN PRINGLE (EPI ’86) about the cultural shift on attitudes towards drug use.

Dean DONALD BURKE talks about the history of Pitt Public Health and looks to a future full of continued success of our alumni and faculty. DAVID SATCHER (HON '01), 16th United States Surgeon General, presents the keynote, "Informing and Influencing Public Health Policy and Practice." Satcher is also the founding director and senior advisor for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.

PITTWIRE - Doctoral alumna MALIHA ZAHID ( HUGEN '09) aims to reduce the amount of radiation that patients are exposed to when undergoing diagnostic imaging. Her creation, to be used during cardiac stress tests, was a previous Pitt PInCh winner.

In charming footage from an early episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," famed Pittsburgh muralist and sculptor, Virgil Cantini shares the maquette for his scientific "Man" sculpture and explains his vision for the work. The angular, larger-than-life metallic figure has adorned the Fifth Avenue facade of the school for the last half century, showing Man ever-reaching for the expansion of knowledge. (Excerpt courtesy of The Fred Rogers Company...

“It’s not about doing the cool work. It’s about doing the work that is necessary for that community,” says RUTH MODZELEWSKI (HUGEN '96) in a discussion featuring faculty and alumni about their impact on local communities, including collaboration between the private and public sector, the value of community based participatory research, empowering communities with early access to data, and acknowledging the “invisible” Latino community in Pittsbu...

Congrats to BCHS's ELIZABETH FELTER and, SARA BAUMANN (BCHS '19), who were awarded a 2018 Pitt Innovation in Education Award for their proposal “Teaching Video for Health Promotion.” They plan on offering a new class, which the funds will support, in the fall of 2018. Students will focus on script writing and and basic video editing techniques through hands-on, interactive in-class activities.

The Center for Health Equity (CHE) has created Pitt Moves, which organized brief student-led exercise times during a class break in approximately 10 classes this term. With support from Pitt’s HealthyU initiative, this student-directed and -centered physical activity break project aims to create a culture of non-sedentarism at Pitt Public Health. The project was born in a rather “serendipitous way,” says PATRICIA DOCUMET of BCHS.

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW - An iron lung machine will be on display at Pitt Public Health to honor polio pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk, who created the polio vaccine in 1955. The vaccine, tested in Pittsburgh school children, is considered one of medicine's most significant medical breakthroughs. “It's a reminder of the advances we have made in public health,” said Dr. Donald Burke, dean of Pitt's graduate school of public health.

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - The tubular yellow artifact placed on display in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health lobby Tuesday was an unfamiliar oddity to the many millennials walking by it, but 73-year-old Jael Greenleaf of Squirrel Hill knows it well. “I am claustrophobic to this day,” said Ms. Greenleaf, who spent months as a 5-year-old in one of the life-saving iron lungs used to assist the breathing of polio victims ...

UCSF NEWS - A study that involved combing through more than 50 years of data to assess the link between asthma and daycare and preschool attendance may provide welcome reassurance to working parents. Early child care does not boost children’s risk for developing this common respiratory disease, according to the study led by researchers including JUAN CELEDON, EPI and HUGEN professor.

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YNGBLKPGH. What does Pittsburgh mean to 140 young black professionals?

PITTWIRE - Pitt alum Brian Burley (BUS ’13G) continues to highlight young black leaders and create community ties through his www.YngBlkPgh.com site. This social enterprise started with his book “YNGBLKPGH” (Young Black Pittsburgh) which features more than 140 African-American professionals und... (07/23/2018)

PITTWIRE - Doctoral alumna CHELSEA PALLATINO (BCHS ’17) has been awarded the Steven D. Manners Faculty Development Award by the University Center for Social and Urban Research to support her pilot research project entitled “Co-occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use: Understanding B... (07/19/2018)

Innovation Institute recognized at Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education

PITTWIRE - The University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute was recognized for its commitment to building programs that accelerate innovations from the laboratory and research into commercialization at the recent Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education. Alumni EVA... (07/02/2018)

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Several states are likely dramatically underestimating the effect of opioid-related deaths because of incomplete death certificate reporting, with Pennsylvania leading the pack, according to a new analysis by Pitt Public Health. “Proper allocation of resources for the opioid e... (07/19/2018)

Pittsburgh finds overdose risk quintuples with opioid and Benzodiazepine use

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - In the first 90 days of concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use, the risk of opioid-related overdose increases five-fold compared to opioid-only use among Medicare recipients. "Having multiple prescribers who are not in communication increases the risk for overdose,” says HPM... (07/02/2018)

Pitt Public Health finds ‘good cholesterol’ may not always be good for postmenopausal women

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Postmenopausal factors may have an impact on the heart-protective qualities of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) – also known as ‘good cholesterol.' “The results of our study are particularly interesting to both the public and clinicians because total HDL cholesterol is still us... (06/25/2018)